- Wall Street has been worried about
- New research from the New York Federal Reserve found a spike in the delinquency rate for subprime loans originated by auto-finance companies.
- "Although the impact on the larger financial sector may be muted, there are over 23 million consumers who hold subprime auto loans," the report said.
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People have stopped paying their car loans, and it's a risk to a $200 billion market
In a Tuesday post, researchers led by Andrew Haughwout highlighted a rising rate of delinquencies in subprime auto loans originated by auto-finance companies.
The New York Federal Reserve is flagging some concerns about a $200 billion auto loan market.
In a post out Tuesday, researchers led by Andrew Haughwout highlighted the nearly doubling of the rate of delinquencies in subprime auto loans originated by auto finance companies since 2011.
"Since 2011, the overall delinquency rate of loans originated by auto finance companies has significantly deteriorated," the report said.
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The 90-plus-day delinquent rate for subprime auto loans originated by auto finance companies is up more than 2 percentage points since 2014 and now stands at close to 10%, according to the report. That's higher than the highest rate after the dot-com crash and close to the highs in 2009 after the financial crisis.
In contrast, the delinquency rate on bank auto loans has been steadily improving.
"The overall delinquency rate for auto loans — published in our Quarterly Report — shows only a very slow increase masking the sharp rise in subprime delinquency, which is diluted by the increase in prime loans with better performance," the report said.
The Fed isn't the first to express alarm over the subprime auto loan market. Early this year, it was the topic du jour on Wall Street, with a cluster of firms expressing concern about the market's direction.
At the time, Fitch Ratings highlighted how auto finance companies were affecting the market.
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"Deteriorating credit performance will be more acute in the subprime segment, driven to some extent by the expansion of less-tenured independent auto finance companies that have demonstrated higher-risk appetites and less underwriting discipline," it said.
While these auto finance companies pose less of a risk than banks might, the effect on consumers is still significant. The Fed in its latest report said:
"Although the impact on the larger financial sector may be muted, there are over 23 million consumers who hold subprime auto loans. These consumers may find their credit reports further damaged after a default or encounter further financial difficulties after experiencing a car repossession."
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